Reddit reviews A History of the Sikhs, Volume 1: 1469-1839 (Oxford India Collection)

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

Everyone is welcome at the Gurdwara regardless of their gender, caste, creed, race, etc. You are more than welcome to come to the Gurdwara to pray, enjoy Langar, or talk with the community.

At the Gurdwara people are expected to converge their heads, and take off their shoes. Visible tattoos are fine.


If you would like to learn more about the Sikh faith, then Basics of Sikhi is a great YouTube channel with general videos on Sikhi, and Nanak Naam is a great Chanel that focuses more on the Spiritual/Philosophical side of Sikhi. I would highly suggest you take a look at "The Why Guru Course" which is a free video series that is a great introduction to Sikhi, and talks about Sikh history, culture, language, music, poetry, and much more. For a more in-depth cover on Sikh history read up on "A History of Sikhs" by Kushwant Singh. To access the Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji online go to SearchGurbani.com. For Q&As check out LearnSikhi.com, and for everything else you're already at the right spot: r/Sikh.

Hi! You can start with the book linked above for a summary of the events leading upto 1984. The book is quite detailed. I would also recommend this article on The Gill Doctrine.


For more Sikh history Khushwant Singh's book "History of the Sikhs" first written in 1963 remains a compelling read.

Well, any book on the history of the origins of Sikhism will touch on the socio-religious conditions in Punjab that lead to Sikhism's current form. The book that I keep on my book shelf is this one which touches more on the actual practices of Sikhism as opposed to its history, but it does touch on some of those aspects. I have heard good things about this book, written by a former Sikh and self proclaimed Sikh-Atheist.


In a nutshell though:

• Nanak, the first guru, had cordial relations with Akbar, the muslim emperor. In fact, Nanak's first follower was Bhai Mardana, a muslim. Also, the holiest shrine in Sikhism, the Golden Temple, had its foundation stone laid by a Muslim, Mian Mir. His descended family who are still Muslim, have a lot of respect from the Sikhs.
  
  
• The fifth guru, on the other hand, was murdered by the Muslim emperor because Sikhism was spreading and the fifth guru wouldn't convert himself to Islam.
  
  
• This was a major turning point in Sikh history as it turned us from peaceful hippies to Sant Sipahis or "Saint Soldiers" for self defense (hence the concept of Kirpan) by the 6th guru
  
  
• By this point, we didn't have an official reason to wear turbans. The turbans happened during the second turning point, also thanks to the muslim ruler at that time
  
  
• The 9th guru was invited over by the emperor at that time (different from the guy who killed the 5th guru), told to convert, and when the 9th guru refused, the emperor commissioned a public beheading of the leader of the Sikh faith to intimidate his followers.
  
  
• After that, he mocked the sikh followers for not coming up and defending their guru, and hiding among the tides. The 10th and last guru himself was disappointed that no sikh went up when the emperor dared the sikhs to come up and get the guru's body for a proper disposal.
  
  
• The 10th guru, then, at the peak of this Sikh-Muslim tension, created the Khalsa. One aspect of the khalsa was that a Sikh should be visible from far and wear a turban, so that if muslims wanted to come kill the Sikhs, a Sikh would be brave enough to defend himself and not let go of his beliefs by pretending to be someone else. He knew this was not for everyone, so no one was forced to wear the turban, but it became a crucial component of Sikhism.
  
  
• After creating of the Khalsa, the conflict between Sikhs and Muslims definitely increased, but those didn't modify the Sikh religion anymore.. only enforced the previous aspects of it. The 10th guru was also killed by a Muslim.
  
  
• One of my favorite things that the 10th guru did was send a letter to the mughal ruler (the guy who publicly beheaded the 9th guru) schooling by saying that Islam does not justify violence in the name of God and so what he was doing is wrong. There are reports that the emperor realized this and stopped his force conversions.
  
  
  Obviously, this account is focussing on the Sikh-Muslim interactions during this time -- I havent talked about the dharmic concepts in Sikhism, but these interactions were directly responsible for the fact we carry kirpans and wear publicly visible turbans today.

If you're looking for a historical, text book type source, then you want A History of the Sikhs Volume 1, 1469-1839 and Volume 2, 1839-2004 by Khushwant Singh. Comprehensive and well researched with plenty of footnotes.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Sikhs-History-Religion-Society/dp/0231068158/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1344217958&sr=8-6&keywords=sikhism+mcleod

http://www.amazon.com/History-Sikhs-Volume-1469-1839-Collection/dp/0195673085/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344217976&sr=8-1&keywords=sikhism+khushwant+singh

http://www.amazon.com/History-Sikhs-v2-1839-1988-corrections/dp/0195626443/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1344217976&sr=8-5&keywords=sikhism+khushwant+singh